


Torchwood, Series 5: The Reboot, Episode 1

by logos00



Series: Torchwood Series 5: The Reboot [1]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Children of Earth Fix-It, F/M, Gen, M/M, Reboot, Season/Series 05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-03-15
Packaged: 2018-03-18 01:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3551330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/logos00/pseuds/logos00
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four years after Miracle Day, while attempting to cure Rex's immortality, Jack and Gwen accidentally change the past and land themselves in an alternate 2015 where no one died and the old Team Torchwood is still going strong. Both of them are in for some painful surprises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Torchwood, Series 5: The Reboot, Episode 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! My first Torchwood fic, and my first post to AO3. Hope you enjoy.

“You. World War II. What the hell did you do to me?” Rex demands angrily of Jack as he lays on the floor, his blood-stained shirt hanging open to reveal the total lack of a bullet wound on his chest. Jack, Gwen, and Rhys just gape at him.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME??” He repeats as he jumps to his feet.

“Nothing, I didn’t do anything,” Jack replies, still stunned. “This is impossible.”

“Your weird blood did some voodoo on my body and now I can’t die? Just like you? Is that it?”

“I told you, I don’t know what’s going on any more than you do.”

“Undo it.” Rex is furious.

“I can’t, I don’t know how! It’s not supposed to be!”

“Undo. It.” Rex is not backing down. 

“Are you saying you want to die?” Gwen says, wide-eyed. Rex turns on her.

“No, but I don’t want to be a FREAK for all eternity, either.”

“Thanks,” Jack says bitterly. “But if I had the power to make you mortal again, don’t you think I would have done it for myself a long time ago?”

There’s an uncomfortable silence while everyone avoids his eyes. Rex bounces back quickly enough, though.

“You did this, Jack. You need to fix it.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t know how?” Jack is about ready to punch him.

“Then figure it out. Looks like we’ve both got some time on our hands.”

 

“... because this is your fault and you need to fix it.” Rex is saying as the SUV pulls up in front of the plaza outside the rebuilt Cardiff Millenium Centre. 

“Yes, I know,” Jack replies with an eye-roll and a sigh. “You’ve been saying that over and over for four years now. I get it. That’s why we’re here.”

“You just better be taking this seriously, Jack. That’s all I’m sayin’.”

“Got it,” Jack snaps as he opens the door and climbs out of the driver’s seat. Gwen emerges from the seat behind him and they both walk to the back of the vehicle.

“Are you sure about this, Jack?” she asks, her eyes full of concern.

“No, I’m not,” he says as he opens the rear and pulls out a metal case. “I told you, it’s just a theory, I can’t guarantee this will work. But I promised Rex I’d try.”

“And if it does work, you’ll be mortal, too. Are you sure that’s what you want?”

Jack looks at her, his eyes soft. “It’s been long enough, Gwen. I’ve seen enough, done enough.” He pauses. “Lost enough. I’m fine with putting an end date on it.”

“But you’ll die.”

“Not right away. If I start aging normally now, I’ve probably got thirty or forty years left.” He gives her that charming smile of his. “We can grow old together.”

“You and me and Rhys,” she laughs.

“And Anwen can take care of us,” he laughs back.

“Oh she’d love that, she would. Little spitfire that she is.”

“Like her mum.”

“Hey, what’s the hold-up back there?” Rex calls out from the front of the vehicle.

“Hold your horses, we’re coming.” Jack snaps back. “He’s on his own after this,” he mumbles to Gwen. She grins and they both head purposely towards the water tower. Rex falls in stride next to them.

“So let’s go over the plan again, Jack, just so we’re clear,” he says.

“Right. This,” Jack lifts the case he’s carrying, “is a Ruellean Warp Calibrator. I’d heard of them but never seen one until this fell through the rift a few weeks ago. If we let it do its thing, right on top of the rift, it might set everything right.”

“How?” Rex presses. “You never said.”

“It’s all based on an idea I had after … a friend … told me I was impossible and there was no way to cure me. He said I was wrong, that I was a fixed point in time and space. And I started to think, what if there’s a way to set me right? To jar me loose from that fixed point and push me back into the same spacetime stream as everyone else? And that’s where this baby comes in.”

“What does it do?” Gwen asks.

“It measures a person’s vibrations with the world around them, figures out what’s off, and recalibrates them as necessary. It’s primarily a medical device, just to fix small injuries and illnesses, that kind of thing. Under normal use, nothing too dramatic. But with the power of the rift, it just might be able to do a little more.”

“Like jerk both of us into normal-people space?” Rex says.

“Exactly.” Jack grins proudly.

“But you don’t know, Jack,” Gwen is skeptical. “You’re just guessing. It could do anything to anybody here. What if you end up making me immortal, too?”

“No, no, it doesn’t do anything new. It only adjusts people back to where they already belonged. You’ll be fine. Everyone here will be fine. The most that’ll happen to you is you’ve got a cold you don’t know about and it’ll be cured.”

“And what’s the most that’ll happen to you and Rex?” she says, worried. “If it doesn’t work the way you hope, what’s the worst way this can go wrong?”

“The worst thing is nothing happens and I have to listen him bitch about it for another couple of years until I come up with a new plan.”

Rex scowls but keeps his mouth shut.

“Fine, where do you want us?” Gwen concedes.

“Right over here, in front of the water tower.” He takes up a spot a few feet away from the curb and bends down to open the case.

Gwen wanders over to the old familiar spot.

“This is where the lift was,” she says to Rex.

“What, the invisible elevator down to your secret underground lair?”

“It wasn’t invisible,” Jack corrects him. “It had a perception filter so it was hard to notice.”

“Exactly.” Gwen looks down wistfully. “But I guess ‘secret underground lair’ is a pretty fair term for the Hub. Oh, it was beautiful Rex.” She smiles up at him. “You should have seen it. This fountain ran all the way down to the bottom of it, and we had just everything. Everything you could ever want to hunt aliens and exploit their technology and protect the human race.” Her face becomes sad. “Until it was all blown to bits.”

“And you managed to hide it from everyone.” Rex says.

Gwen and Jack exchange a look. “Mostly everyone,” she says uncomfortably.

“We had help,” Jack points out, still fiddling with the alien device.

“Right, your team.” Rex replies. “You had, uh, a doctor named Owen and a computer wiz named Tasha.”

“Toshiko,” Gwen says just a little too sharply. “We called her Tosh.”

“Yeah, sorry, and then there was Jack’s boyfriend... was it... Ianto? What kind of name is that, anyway?”

Both Jack and Gwen visibly stiffen. Rex immediately regrets the mistake.

“Sorry, I meant no disrespect. From what you two say, sounds like he was a good guy.”

“He was,” Jack says tersely, not looking up. Gwen’s eyes are a little wet.

“Yeah, well, I’m sorry for your loss. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No, it’s alright, Rex.” Gwen puts a hand on his arm. “It’s nice remembering them.”

“Yes, just terrific,” Jack stands up, “but let’s focus on the present right now. It’s ready.”

“Okay,” Gwen walks over to him. “What do we do?”

Jack holds out an object that looks like a large, elaborate XBox controller.

“Put your index finger on that panel right there,” he says. Gwen complies and the panel lights up a pale yellow.

“Great,” says Jack. “Now you, Rex.” Rex does the same only this time it’s a bright blue. Jack takes a turn and his light is blue as well.

“See,” the Captain explains, “Rex and I are on the same frequency. The wrong frequency. You, Gwen, are in sync with this world. If this works, Rex and I will light up yellow just like you. Stand back, but not too far.”

He sets the object on the ground between them, right where they’ve always known the rift energy to be strongest, and presses a button on the top. 

Suddenly it’s madness. An impenetrable cloud of dust and smoke kicks up around them along with a loud rushing wind, and nothing can be seen or heard. Jack can barely stay on his feet.

“Gwen! Rex!” He shouts into the maelstrom. If there’s a reply he doesn’t hear it. He flails about wildly and manages to connect with Gwen’s hand. They hold on tight. Rex is nowhere to be found. The pair start backing away slowly, stumbling onto the platform in front of the water tower but not knowing where else to go.

“What’s happening, Jack?” Gwen yells inaudibly.

“What?” he yells back.

“I SAID,” she gives it all she has, “WHAT’S. HAPPENING?”

“I DON’T KNOW.” As he’s saying it, they both feel a jolt and then the earth starts to rise up around them. They cling to each other for support as they sink into the ground, terrified. 

When the tops of their heads clear the bottom of the platform, it slides shut above them and all is silence. Well, not silence, there’s some ambient noise, but they can finally hear themselves think. Vision also returns as they continue descending.

“What the hell was that, Jack?” Gwen exclaims, still in a panic.

“Never mind that right now, Gwen,” he says. “Look.”

She turns away and finally notices where she is.

“What the…” her jaw drops.

It’s the Hub. All of it. Just as it was before the bomb took it. Everything is still there. The fountain. Jack’s office. The greenhouse. The stairs down to the autopsy room. Even…

“Oh my god Jack, over there,” she points at the ever-approaching floor.

Toshiko is sitting at her usual station, hard at work. A few yards away, Owen’s tinkering with something. Tosh and Owen and the Hub. Like they’ve gone back in time and it’s any other day at the old Torchwood.

“What is GOING ON, Jack?” Gwen demands, but his face is an immovable mask.

"You know what to do," he tells her. They’re almost to the bottom when the other two notice the disheveled new arrivals.

“What’s up with you two, then?” Owen asks casually. “Seen a ghost up there?”

Jack comes striding off the platform commandingly.

“Not exactly,” he says. “We’re not supposed to be here. We’ve been caught in some kind temporal anomaly, from the future. What year is it now?”

“Oh dear.” Tosh comes over, all concern. “It’s 2015, Jack.”

Jack steps back, stunned, and Gwen nearly doubles over.

“2015? That can’t be right. Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure, mate,” Owen replies. “Why, what year are you from?”

They’re both in too much shock to respond, even if they did know what to tell him.

“What does this mean?” Gwen asks Jack. “Did we jump into an alternate universe or something?”

But he doesn’t even hear her, because a more pressing thought has suddenly occurred to him. If the Hub is still intact, and Tosh and Owen are alive…

“What about....”

“Hullo, everyone, what’s going on in here, then?” Those beautiful Welsh vowels have just entered the room.

“Ianto!” he exclaims in a strangled cry as he leaps over a railing and runs to him. Jack grabs Ianto by the biceps, looks him up and down in both disbelief and joy, then pulls him in for a kiss.

Gwen smiles in utter delight as both Tosh and Owen stare, dumbfounded.

Jack is still kissing Ianto when the other man puts his hands on both shoulders and shoves away, hard. 

“What the HELL do you think you’re doing, Jack?” Ianto spits indignantly. Jack is speechless.

“Oh this isn’t our Jack, Ianto,” Owen supplies cheerfully. “Or our Gwen. They’re from the future. Or maybe an alternate dimension. We haven’t quite sussed it out yet.”

“There’s been some sort of anomaly,” Tosh adds. “We’re trying to sort it now.”

“Must be a hell of an alternative if you think THAT’S an appropriate thing to do,” Ianto snaps at Jack.

“Right,” Jack slips right back into Captain mode. “First things first, where are the Jack and Gwen that do belong here? We should keep them separate from us.”

“First we should tell the other Jack how you just kissed Ianto,” Owen smirks. “That’ll get a laugh.”

“Okay, okay, where did you see us last?”

“You went up the same way you just came down,” Owen replies. “And come to think of it, you were wearing those same clothes.”

Gwen inclines her head towards Jack. “How can you tell with this one?”

“Alright, then. You were wearing the same clothes.”

Gwen looks down at herself and notices she is in fact in a different outfit.

During this exchange, Ianto pulls out his phone and dials. Jack’s pocket starts vibrating. The conversation cuts off immediately. After looking at it in surprise for a moment, then glancing around at the others, Jack pulls a device out of his trousers. It’s an iPhone he doesn’t recognize and Ianto’s face is filling up the display.

The room stops breathing. Ianto wordlessly ends the call and dials another number. Gwen’s pocket vibrates. Ianto again hits end. 

Owen touches a hand to the comm at his ear and says, “Jack.”

Jack slowly lifts his hand to his own ear and responds, “What?”

“Oh god,” Tosh whispers.

“So we’ve physically replaced our other selves?” Gwen asks.

“It would appear so,” Jack answers.

“Doesn’t that rule out alternate universe?” Ianto asks, reasoning it out. “If you jump universes and you’re alive in both, there would be two of each of you. But didn’t someone say something about the future? What year did you come from? Can’t be very far ahead, Gwen doesn’t look any older.”

“Far enough ahead that you two have taken up again, apparently,” Owen quips.

“Owen,” Tosh admonishes quietly.

Jack ignores him. “No, not exactly,” he says slowly. “It’s not the future, Ianto. In fact, judging by the date and time on this phone that wasn’t mine until just now, we didn’t move a minute.”

“How can that be, Jack?” Gwen demands. “Everything here is different.”

“Too right,” Owen says. “It’s so different where you come from, Jack is still shagging Ianto.”

“No, _OWEN_ ,” Gwen rounds on him angrily, her eyes flashing. “It’s different because you’re all DEAD!” 

The smirk falls right off his face. 

“First you,” she continues mercilessly at him, “killed valiantly in the line of duty. Then you, Tosh, the same. Then a bomb exploded right in the middle of the Hub and we lost EVERYTHING. And then Ianto.” She turns to face him, on the verge of angry tears now. “Ianto, you were exposed to an alien virus and you died in Jack’s arms, crying, telling him you loved him and begging him not to forget you. And he didn’t. He’s mourned you every day since.” Ianto looks stricken. Gwen turns back to Owen. “So give him a bloody break!”

“Okay, everyone, just take a breath.” Jack steps in between them. “Let’s all go sit down in the conference room and get to the bottom of this.”

 

Once they’re all seated, Jack stands up at the head of the table.

“The most likely explanation here is that somehow the past has been altered, and Gwen and I find ourselves in a different timeline to the one we remember. For you three, it’s like nothing has changed, but for us it’s like stepping into a totally new reality.” He looks down at the surface of the table then back up at them. “It’s really good to see you guys again,” he says thickly. Gwen bobs her head in agreement.

Toshiko tentatively raises her hand. “May I ask, what the two of you were doing right before this change occurred?”

“Good question, Tosh,” he replies. “Like Gwen said, you three were… gone, and so was the Hub. We were working with a CIA agent named Rex Matheson. It’s a very long story but there was an accident and he became immortal just like me. He was not happy about it.”

Gwen snorts. “Bit of an understatement, that.”

Jack smiles rakishly. “Right. Anyway, he was very insistent that I reverse his condition, so I was attempting to use a Ruellean Warp Calibrator to realign us both with the right spacetime frequencies.”

“Up there?” Ianto asks, incredulous. “Directly on top of the rift?”

“I needed that much power to get the job done. Or so I thought. But it must have caused some kind of reaction that changed an event in the past, before we lost you all, and things went along a new course. And here we are.”

“Wait, so you were trying to turn yourself mortal, too?” Tosh wants to know.

“Yes.”

“Did it work?” Gwen asks.

“I don’t know. I need the calibrator to check my frequency and I wasn’t exactly able to pick it up while all hell was breaking loose.”

Ianto starts tapping at his laptop. “No alien tech detected on the plaza. If it came through with you into this timeline, it’s not up there.”

“Well, I’ll just have to be careful for a while,” Jack says. He thinks for a second. “So let’s start by figuring out when things changed.”

“First thing I’m thinking is Owen definitely looks older,” Gwen offers.

“Thank you very much,” Owen retorts indignantly.

“No, sorry, see, you died, and you stopped aging, so the timeline change would have been before that.”

“I should say if I died I stopped aging, what’s your point?”

“No, the first time you died but you were still with us only you didn’t eat or sleep or age.”

Everyone but Jack looks at her like she’s insane.

“Jack,” she pleads.

“Owen,” Jack comes to her rescue. “Were you ever shot in the chest but brought back to life by the Resurrection Glove?”

“Definitely not.”

“Okay,” Jack makes a conciliatory hand gesture. “That’s helpful information. Now...”

“No, wait,” Owen interjects. “Let’s talk a little more about me getting shot in the chest. When did that happen?”

“I think it was... 2008?”

“Yes, it was,” Gwen says. “It happened while we were taking down that pharmaceutical company that was using alien bodies to cure diseases.”

“The Pharm?” Tosh recognizes the story. “I remember that, but Owen never got shot. We shut them down and left.”

“With Martha Jones?” Jack asks.

“Martha? No, we didn’t meet Martha until later that year, when she helped us defeat that Captain John Hart fellow.”

“I see. And was that the first time you met Captain Hart, when you worked with Martha?”

“No, he’d been here a few months before, right after you got back from your... trip… whatever it was.”

“When you left,” Ianto supplies pointedly.

“Right, of course. So that still happened.”

“What about that World War I soldier we had in cryo?” Gwen interjects. “I think that was after you got back but before Owen was shot.”

“Tommy Brockless?” Tosh offers softly. “We sent him back to his own time. Successfully, I guess.”

“Okay,” Jack says gently. “We can try to drill down to the exact moment later, but for now I think it’s safe to assume the timeline altered somewhere in early 2008. And as far as you’re all concerned the five of us have been working together all this time, the same as always? Any major changes in the pre-2008 status quo?”

Owen and Tosh exchange a look.

“There’ve been some new procedures,” she says, “developments with the rift, and of course technology has advanced quite a bit. We’ll have to bring you up to date on our current systems. But we’re all pretty much doing the same jobs.“

“And you should know Tosh and I are married now,” Owen states matter-of-factly.

“Oh. Congratulations.”

“And what about my family, Tosh?” Gwen is suddenly intent. “Where are Rhys and Anwen?”

An awkward pause.

“Who’s Anwen?” Ianto asks.

Gwen’s eyes fly open wide and she leaps to her feet, slamming her hand on the table.

“Change it back,” she demands.

“What?” he asks.

“Change it back, Jack. She was never born in this timeline, that’s what you’re saying, right?” She looks at Ianto for a confirmation he’s too terrified to give. She goes back to yelling at Jack. “So whatever you did, undo it, and get me back to my daughter.”

“You and Rhys have two sons, Gwen,” Toshiko says, but they both ignore her.

“Gwen, I don’t know...”

“CHANGE IT BACK JACK I MEAN IT,” she screams.

“Gwen!” he yells back. “I can’t! It was an accident, I don’t know what I did so I don’t know how to undo it. And even if I did, think of what you’re asking.”

“I’m not asking I’m telling. Get. Me. My. Daughter.”

“I. Can’t.”

“You bloody well can and you will!”

“What is it with people demanding I do the impossible? What do I look like? An omnipotent being?”

“A little bit,” Ianto mutters. “Sometimes.”

“Gwen,” Jack tries to reason with her. “Believe me, I know what lengths you’ll go to for your daughter but you cannot ask me to do this. Not even to try. You can’t expect these people here to work on any kind of plan that, if successful, would guarantee their deaths.”

“What if there’s a way to save everyone?” Gwen is grasping at straws. “Can’t we at least find out more and see if there’s a solution?”

“Gwen…”

“Finding out more is a good idea anyway,” Toshiko interjects. “We should learn all we can about what’s happened to you.”

“Are you sure, Tosh?” Jack asks.

“Yes, I’ll go have a look at the rift monitors for today and in early 2008, and see what I can find.” She stands to go. “And we should try to track down this Rex Matheson, see where he is now.”

“There are some medical tests I’d like to run on you both,” Owen offers gently. “Might give us some insight. Want to start with you, Gwen?”

“Thank you, Owen.” She’s calming down.

“Fine,” Jack replies. “Ianto can start briefing me on what I need to know in this brave new world.”

The others leave. Ianto stares at his crossed hands uncomfortably. Jack comes over to sit on the edge of the table next to him.

“Ianto, I want to apologize for my behaviour earlier,” he begins. “I didn’t think.”

“Perfectly understandable under the circumstances,” Ianto replies stiffly. “Flattering, even. Just very unexpected.”

“Well, you made yourself clear. It won’t happen again. But bring me up to speed, so I know exactly where I stand now. What happened to us?”

“Us?” Ianto finally looks up at him. “There never really was an ‘us.’ We had a little fun for a while, years ago, but it ran its course and we ended it. Just friends now.”

“But there had to have been more to it than that,” Jack presses. “It wasn’t just fun for you, Ianto. You had feelings. You wanted a relationship.”

“And you didn’t,” Ianto snaps back. Then he regains control. “So I moved on,” he says more calmly.

“I see. And did you? Move on? Is there someone now?”

“Not at the moment, no, but yes, there have been others in the last seven years,” Ianto says sarcastically. “I’m not a total hermit.”

“Women?”

“Mostly.”

“I see.” Jack stands up and walks a few feet away.

“I’m not unsympathetic to how this must be for you, Jack,” Ianto tells him. “But you have to know that whatever you remember, for me it was a small thing a long while ago. It was like, I don’t know, a blip in time.”

Jack is very glad he’s facing away. “A blip in time. Right.” With great effort he maintains his composure. “Anything you want to ask me? About my timeline?”

“Not really.”

He turns around and switches gears. “Okay, well, would it be too uncomfortable for you to teach me some of these new procedures? Whatever’s most important to know right away.”

“Did it… did I…” Ianto speaks softly then is quiet for a long moment. He finally finds a way to blurt it out. “Was it really the way Gwen said? How I died?” 

“Yes,” Jack says simply. This time he can’t hide the look in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Ianto whispers.

“For what?”

“For your loss.”

“Thank you.”

Ianto sits up straight and speaks more clearly. “The most pressing issue is the new door security. Owen still doesn’t have it down. The process is really quite simple but it’s essential that we all do it properly.”

 

Meanwhile, Owen is drawing a sample of blood from Gwen.

“So, how long have you been married, then?” she asks him.

“Four years,” he replies. “Apparently she had a thing for me for ages, never said anything until one drunken night at a Christmas party. Been together ever since.”

“Any kids?”

“In this job? Hardly.”

“Apparently I’ve managed it.”

“You’ve got Rhys. Both Tosh and I are fully occupied with our custodial duties to Torchwood.”

Toshiko joins them.

“Their names are Edward and Barry,” she says. “Your sons. Ages three years and ten months.”

“You tried both times to name one of them Jack, but Rhys put his foot down,” Owen adds.

“I have some pictures from the last time I saw them, if you want,” Tosh continues, reaching for her phone.

“Not just yet. Let me get my head round it first.” Owen is finished with her and she stands, rolling down her sleeve. “Anwen is five. She’s a little beauty.”

“And a little hellion,” Jack says playfully as he walks up, Ianto not far behind. “Ready for me, doc?”

“Jack, I have a report I’d like to give first,” Tosh interjects.

“Already? Great, go ahead.”

“Well, of course there was an obvious rift event in the moments before you arrived here. I was able to isolate its energy signature and run a search, and I found a match in something from 2008. That must be the moment that was altered.”

“Can you tell what changed?” Gwen asks.

“No, and I’m having a hard time finding out what any of us were even doing then. We have all the records from the rift monitors, but no logs, no reports, no CCTV footage, nothing about what was happening for almost two days.”

“When exactly was this?” Jack asks.

“Right here,” Toshiko points at her monitor. They all crowd around to look.

“Oh right,” Ianto observes casually. “That was one of the times Jack retconned us all. Two days sounds about right.”

“You can’t know that,” Jack says defensively. “If you took retcon, you wouldn’t remember it.”

Ianto rolls his eyes. “Oh please, Jack, I think I can tell when I wake up and I’ve had retcon. Just because I don’t say anything doesn’t mean I don’t know.”

“How?”

“There’s an aftertaste.”

“There is not!” Jack is offended. “I formulated it myself and you can’t taste anything.”

“Sure you can, right in the back of the…”

“Okay you two,” Gwen cuts him off. “So how do we find out what exactly changed?”

“I don’t think we do, Gwen,” Jack says. “Even if we did have complete records from that time, it’s probably some small detail that we’d never notice. It only takes one little thing to change the course of events. Someone comes in late at a critical time, an important object gets broken...”

“A butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil,” Ianto deadpans. Jack nods.

“So what do we…”

Gwen is interrupted by a beeping sound from Tosh’s station.

“What’s that?” Jack asks.

“It’s that same energy signature. I created a tracking program and set it up to alert us if it was detected again. Something’s happening across town.”

“Let’s go.”

Owen steps in front of Jack. “Hey, maybe you two should stay here.” He indicates Gwen with a nod of his head. “Until you get a little more acclimated.”

Jack fixes him with a level gaze. “I think we can handle it,” he says.

Owen backs away and the whole team heads out.

 

They pull up in front of a nondescript block of flats. Toshiko consults the readings on her iPad. 

“The energy signature appears to be coming from the roof,” she says.

The team heads up to the top and sure enough, the Rueallan Warp Calibrator is laying there on the pitch. Sparks are randomly shooting out of it, causing it to bounce around.

“How did it get up here?” Gwen asks.

“Things were going pretty crazy there for a while,” Jack says. “It must have gone flying. Doesn’t matter, let’s pack it up and take it back to the Hub.”

“Wait, Jack,” Owen interjects. He points down to a playground right next to the building, where a group of children are running and laughing. “There are kids down there. We should do the thing with the perception filter.”

“What?” Jack responds impatiently.

“He wouldn’t know about that, would he?” Ianto observes.

“Right,” Owen says. “We decided a few years back that when something alien looks dangerous, and people, especially children, are around, we leave it alone. Put up a perception filter so they don’t notice anything and we come back at night to move it.”

“There was an incident,” Tosh adds solemnly.

Jack considers her for a moment then dismisses it. “It’s not dangerous, Owen. I’ve handled it before just fine.”

“Was it lit up like that when you did? It’s obviously gone haywire. We should stick to protocol here.”

Jack draws himself up a little higher. “I don’t think it’s necessary.”

“Still, Jack,” Tosh says, moving a little to stand next to Owen. “Better safe than sorry, right?”

“So you want to just leave it here all day, wasting time when we could be getting some answers?” Gwen says from Jack’s immediate left. Toshiko doesn’t know what to say.

Ianto puts his hands in his pockets and looks down. “Well, if Jack thinks it’s safe…”

“You remember, Ianto?” Owen retorts. “What happened?”

“Right, of course.” He takes two steps to his right and now there’s a line running between the two groups. They stare at each other across it.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, Owen, the last few years notwithstanding. I’m still in charge here and I’m taking that thing with us now. You don’t have to help.” 

Jack turns away and strides over to the crackling object. He sweeps off his greatcoat and holds it out to scoop the thing up. He’s just made contact when it pops loudly and skitters away. Jack runs after it, ignoring the sharp poke it’s just given him. He’s almost got it again when it bounces up and lands on the ledge around the roof. A few more inches and it’ll fall right down in the middle of the playing children, still sparking and snapping. Jack lunges and catches it in the coat, but can’t quite stop his momentum and starts sliding right over the edge of the rooftop.

“Jack!” both Gwen and Ianto yell.

At the last second he manages to catch himself with his elbow while still holding on to the coat, and he pulls himself back up to safety. The others run over to him.

“That was really stupid, Jack,” Ianto scolds.

“I’m fine, Ianto.”

“We don’t know yet if you’d come back.” He’s really angry. “You can’t do things like that.” 

Jack starts to reach for him but catches himself. “I’m sorry, you’re right. Let’s just get this thing back to the Hub.” He puts the calibrator in the case they brought with them.

As they’re heading away, Gwen’s phone rings.

“Oh god, it’s Rhys,” she says. “I don’t know what to tell him. What do I tell him, Jack?”

“Hasn’t it always been your policy to tell him the truth?”

“I don’t know, is it? Is it still?” She asks the others. Owen shrugs but Ianto and Toshiko nod.

“Hello Rhys?” Gwen answers.

“Hi there, love! Having a good day then?” A cheerful voice comes back at her. “Just wanted to know when you’re coming home so I know when to start the cooking.”

“Never mind about that now, Rhys, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“Oh no, what’s happened now?”

“Listen, I’m fine, but....”

“Oh, BLOODY TORCHWOOD!!”

 

“So you don’t remember our children at all?” Rhys is asking her back at their flat.

“I remember our daughter,” she says firmly.

“We don’t have a daughter,” Rhys insists. He’s not having any of this nonsense. “We have two sons and they’re great.”

“Yes, Rhys, I’m sure they are and I’ll love them, but there’s also Anwen to consider.”

“And you want to turn back the clock so we have her and not the boys?” Little Barry starts fussing in his crib and Rhys walks over to pick him up. He rocks the baby gently. “And all your friends would be dead, too? It’s madness, Gwen.”

“No, I want to find a way to merge the timelines, so we’re all together. All of us.”

“But you don’t bloody know how! You don’t even know how you got to this timeline, or whatever you call it. You go mucking about again, who knows what’s to happen? Maybe you make it all worse!”

“How can I just leave her, Rhys?” Gwen cries. “How can I forget our daughter and move on with this life without even trying to get her back?”

“Mummy, you’re home!” Edward comes running into the room and launches himself at Gwen, throwing his arms around her.

“Hello, love,” she says uncomfortably to the toddler. 

“Come play with me?” he asks sweetly, his face beaming.

“In a minute, dear,” she responds. “Mummy and daddy are talking now.”

“Okay!” he says and runs off again.

“Gwen,” Rhys says tenderly but firmly. “I understand this is hard for you and I know it’s a terrible loss, but you can’t take this kind of risk. We have a good life here. I’ve even made my peace with all this Torchwood insanity. It’s not worth putting all that in danger.” He stands up a little straighter. “I forbid it.”

 

Jack sits at his old desk in his old office, reading through his other self’s private files. Luckily that guy was still using the same old password system. Every sixty seconds or so he glances down through the glass walls, feeling pathetic each time. Finally he sees Ianto cross through on the way to somewhere, and a smile plays across his lips. Maybe there’s hope, if he plays it right. Then he notices Owen and Toshiko with their heads together in some private, tender moment, and his face becomes more serious. There’s going to be a problem there.

His phone rings and he answers it.

“Jack Harkness, you’re a hard man to find,” a gruff voice says.

“Rex!” Jack laughs with relief. “Thank god! Where are you?”

“With UNIT, in New York. I’m lucky I’m not in a padded room. I woke up in my ‘new’ office at Langley, and they did not take well to their Deputy Director talking about how suddenly everything had changed! What did you do this time, Harkness?”

“I’m sorry Rex, I really don’t know, but hey, you got be Deputy Director! Congratulations!”

“I got screwed is what I got. How am I supposed to do my job or live my life if I remember the last seven years different from everyone else?”

Jack feels terrible. “Is UNIT helping you?”

“Yeah, thank god. The CIA had me in a holding cell for a day, until I finally convinced them to let me talk to UNIT. I knew enough about you people to make them believe I was for real, and they took me in. Promised to take care of things, but I don’t know what they can do for me.”

“Do you want me to talk to them?” Jack asks.

“I don’t want you to do anything,” Rex retorts. “That’s why I begged for your number, so I could call and tell you don’t come looking for me. Don't try to help me any more. Leave me the hell alone. You’ve done enough.”

"If that's how you really feel..."

"It is."

“Understood,” Jack says. “I’m really sorry. Good luck, Rex.”

“You too,” the other man responds and hangs up.

 

Jack sets the case on the conference table and flips it open. The calibrator inside has long since stopped popping and sparking. Still, the rest of the team involuntarily sit further back in their chairs.

"We've given it a spectrographic analysis, run all the usual tests, and I can't find any reason why it malfunctioned or how it could have caused history to change," Jack tells them.

Toshiko leans forward. "My best guess is that the energy from the rift overloaded the device, causing the electrical discharges we observed. One of the charges could have interacted with the rift, opening up a channel through time. Why it chose the moment it did and what exactly it changed are still a mystery, but it could very well have been totally random."

"Just blind luck then," Ianto says. "We're all alive because of a random spark."

"Have you checked your frequencies with it, Jack?" Gwen asks. "Did it tell you whether or not you can die now?"

"That's one of the strangest parts. I took the test, expecting to see a yellow light for in sync and blue for out, but this time it was purple. Tosh and Ianto showed up purple, too. If we're all testing at the same color, it might mean I'm mortal, but then again it might mean that the timeline change has thrown us all out of sync in a new way. Or else the thing is just broken."

Owen speaks next. "The medical tests were a total bust. A few minor differences from your last check-ups, but nothing to suggest anything out of the ordinary."

"And I've combed through all the records that could possibly be relevant," Ianto says. "There's no new information there."

"Is there a way," Gwen asks, "to replicate that energy signature from the timeline change and..."

"Alright, that's it." Owen cuts her off. "This has gone far enough."

"What?" She's confused and annoyed.

"We did our investigating, we found what we could, and there are no more answers. Time to type up our reports, file this calibrator thing away in the archives, and get on with the next case."

"But what about my daughter, Owen?" she snips.

"AND WHAT ABOUT US?" he growls back. "What about the fact that your precious daughter lives in a world where I'm dead? And my wife? And Ianto and the Hub? No. Let it go, Gwen."

"I'm not saying that, I'm just asking if we can..."

"And I'm saying no we can't."

"Jack!" she appeals to their leader.

"Owen," he says in a conciliatory tone, "what if we just spent a little more time..."

"No, Jack. We're not going any further down this road. I refuse to have anything more to do with this insane idea." He takes a beat. "And so does Tosh."

"Is that true, Toshiko?" Gwen asks sarcastically. "Does Owen speak for you now?"

"In this case, yes he does." She looks guilty but resolute.

"Ianto?" Gwen tries.

He pauses for a very long moment and then speaks slowly. "I'm sorry, Gwen, we know how you feel but..."

"No you bloody well don't know how I feel!" she rages. "None of you are parents!!"

"I'm a parent, Gwen," Jack says coldly. As much as he wants to support her, he knows the others are right. "A grandparent, too, or did you forget that?"

She remembers.

"I looked them up yesterday," he continues. "Spoke to them on the phone. They're both doing well. Do you want us to risk that, too?"

"How many times to I have to explain that no, I don't? I just want to get Anwen into this timeline with everyone else!"

"And how many times..." Owen starts before Jack cuts him off.

"I got this," he says. He walks around the table to face his old friend. His sister in arms. He puts his hands on her shoulders. "Gwen. I loved Anwen. She was my family, too. But if we try messing with timelines we don't understand, there's no way to predict what might happen. We just can't. It's time to accept that and move on."

"But my little girl..." Gwen bursts into tears, falling into Jack's arms.

"I know," he says as she weeps. He sheds a few tears with her. "I know. But we continue on, as we always do."

He holds her quietly until she's cried it out. As she pulls away Ianto hands her a silk handkerchief.

Jack looks significantly into her eyes. "Okay?" he asks pointedly.

She nods as she dries her tears. "Okay. I'm going to need some time, Jack, but okay."

"Take what you need," he says. "And when you're ready, I know we'll have plenty for you to do here."

He walks back up to the head of the table and looks around him, heart swelling with pride. There they all are. Gwen, Owen, Toshiko, and Ianto. In the Hub where they belong. Ready to fight for the future on behalf of the human race.

"Team Torchwood, back in action." He grins widely. Grand adventures lie ahead.

 

The next important piece of business is deciding whether to order pizza or Chinese. In the ensuing discussion, no one notices Gwen slip away and over to Toshiko's desk. She pulls out a flash drive and starts making copies of files. This isn't over yet.


End file.
